PARMCARDS= System Option

Specifies the file reference to open when SAS encounters the PARMCARDS statement in a procedure.

Valid in:	Configuration file, SAS invocation, OPTIONS statement, SAS System Options window
Category:	Environment control: Files
PROC OPTIONS GROUP=	ENVFILES
Note:	This option can be restricted by a site administrator. For more information, see Restricted Options.
See:	PARMCARDS= System Option: z/OS in SAS Companion for z/OS

Syntax

Details

Syntax

PARMCARDS=file-ref

Syntax Description

file-ref: specifies the file reference to open.

Details

The PARMCARDS= system option specifies the file reference of a file that SAS opens when it encounters a PARMCARDS (or PARMCARDS4) statement in a procedure.

SAS writes all data lines after the PARMCARDS (or PARMCARDS4) statement to the file until it encounters a delimiter line of either one or four semicolons. The file is then closed and made available to the procedure to read. There is no parsing or macro expansion of the data lines.